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DALLAS, TX — Wal-Mart owned grocery retailer ASDA (Wal-Mart) is reducing the cost of transporting goods by using advanced map-based transportation optimization software. The innovative routing and scheduling system from Paragon Software Systems allows ASDA's logistics experts to model better routes and make more efficient use of its fleet and drivers. This is forecast to save ASDA (Wal-Mart) between 5 and 10 per cent on the fleet costs of transporting goods to stores, which the company reinvests into the business to reduce costs to shoppers.

"Paragon is our strategic tool of choice for reviewing and modeling best routes. It will also help us to maximize the use of our time. With the efficiencies we will gain from using the system, we are able to minimize capital expenditure through better use of our fleet and driver availability. In short, we are able to do more with our existing resources and the savings we will make, which range from 5 to 10 per cent of fleet costs, are ploughed back into the business to reduce the cost of products to our customers," says Liam Fletcher, ASDA's Network Efficiency Manager.

The Paragon Multi Depot software enables precise planning of delivery routes and truck use across all of ASDA's 22 DCs that serve its 356 stores.

This boosts transportation efficiency enabling ASDA (Wal-Mart) to reduce road miles through improved use of its 1,000 plus fleet of tractor units and 1,600 trailer units. The efficiencies gained by ASDA (Wal-Mart) will also have a positive impact on the company's carbon footprint.

"By improving our routing efficiency we are taking miles off the road. We are maximizing our use of our fleet capability and that results in reducing fuel usage and truck emissions. Our goal is to reduce our fleet's total emissions by 40 per cent by the end of 2009," concludes Fletcher.

Part of the Wal-Mart family of companies, UK-based ASDA traces its roots back to two Yorkshire brothers, Peter and Fred Asquith, and Hindell's Dairies in the 1920s. In 1965, Asquith and Hindell Dairies joined forces to form ASDA. In June 1999, ASDA was acquired by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, and in recent

years, has grown to become Britain's second largest supermarket. ASDA believes that sustainability should be high on everyone's agenda. By encouraging its local suppliers to pool their efforts and deliver their goods to one local site - or distribution hub - the company is steadily reducing the mileage of its trucks.